“I’ll have plenty of time to relax tonight. I need my star refreshed, so I’m taking one for the team,” she said, offering him a mischievous wink.
Had they been alone, he would have kissed her senseless. That would have to wait for after the show. How long would he have with her? He assumed she’d be leaving tonight. Perhaps he could talk her into staying for a few more days.
What was the point?
She’d already broken off one long-distance relationship. He couldn’t leave Seattle, no matter how hard he fell. And he’d fallen hard. “That would make you prejudiced.”
“Do you know what you’re gonna make?” Chloe plopped another truffle down with a muffled thump, flattening the edges.
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Truffles?”
“You make truffles all the time. The judge said to make something else. Are you gonna make something other than chocolate?”
Niko had been debating the issue for days. He’d cooked a variety of items from savory to sweet and he could make some decent bakery items. Chocolate was his passion and he didn’t want to deviate from what he was best at. “I won’t have any idea until I see the Christmas icon. Unless Alice wants to give us a hint…”
Alice wrinkled her nose. She wore his favorite pink sweater, the one that clung to her breasts, tightening across her chest as she tapped the fork against the bowl. “It’s an iconic item, Christmas in nature. Is that enough of a hint?”
“You’re silly.” Chloe popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth and chewed. She had a sweet tooth, one Hallie had tried to curtail but to no avail. And his chocolate had dairy, a no-no for chemo patients.
“Hey, stop eating the merchandise.” Alice elbowed Chloe, grinning at the girl.
“You will have to wait like the rest of the world.” Myself included.
Chloe sighed and put another truffle into the mix. It rolled off her fork and landed in the chocolate. She made to grab it with her fingers but Alice caught the candy before it could sink. “Fingers out. Don’t want to contaminate the chocolate.”
“I don’t know how you do this every day, Uncle Niko, it’s hard work. I’m already tired and we just started.” Chloe placed her chin on the back of her hand.
His amusement faded as he met Alice’s concerned stare. Her complexion had paled and worry lined her eyes. As much as he wanted to assure her everything was okay, it wasn’t. Yet with a donor in the wings, they were steps ahead of where they were before. “Come on, you can go upstairs and lie down in my bed. We can’t have you exhausted before the big show.”
She yawned again and came around the table while removing her gloves.
“Piggy back it?” He crouched down and Chloe put her arms around his neck. He picked her up, her body as light as a feather. She’d always been small for her age, petite and slight of build. There was a different feel about her, a fragility of body that belied her strength of spirit. One he’d prayed she’d hold onto in the months ahead.
Chapter Forty-One
Taking a quick break. Be back in ten. Send me a text if anything urgent comes up. Alice texted her sister.
A quick break or a quickie? Brooke shot back with a winking emoticon.
Incorrigible. Shaking her head, Alice slipped the earpiece out. She put her phone on vibrate, and rushed up the stairs to Niko’s apartment. Tonight was the last night she’d spend with him. Christmas Eve. Or you could stay. She had a round trip ticket back to California but just because she had one, didn’t mean she had to use it.
Alice entered the number into the keypad and pushed the sadness to the back of her mind. She’d used the same tactic every day for nine hundred and twenty-seven days of her youth. She’d look to the future not the past.
The door opened to the sound of thumping, followed by a series of grunts. Her heart began to race and her mind went to a dark place. Was Niko up here with someone else? She moved into the living room and stopped cold, blood rushing to her cheeks.
Niko balanced on one leg before the boxing dummy, foot raised, arms held in front of his chest. He flexed, hopped off the floor and performed a round kick, every muscle in his body delineated. She halted her steps, watching him move with fluid grace, each kick moving higher until he cleared the dummy’s head. He followed up the move with rapid punches to the torso, shoulders bunching, tattoo roiling.
Her heart ached. She was going to miss him so much. Tears welled and she brushed them back. Not now. Not ever. Life happens in the present, not in the past, or the future. Inhaling a slow breath, she moved further into the room. “Remind me never to make you mad.”
Niko spun around, kicking the flat of his foot against the dummy’s abdomen. Poetry in motion. He straightened, that cute dimple making an appearance. His face was flushed from the exercise and his entire body was sheened from his effort.
Blood rushed between her legs and she licked her lips, wanting to tackle him to the couch and see where things led. “Hey yourself.”
“I’d kiss you but I’m a bit of a mess.”
She pursed her lips while trying to keep a straight face. He looped his still gloved hand around her neck to pull her in, his mouth covering her own. How she wanted to stay like this forever but she had work to do. After one last, lingering brush of his lips, she withdrew. “I wanted to wish you good luck before the show. The closer to airtime we get, the less time I’ll have. Once you’re on set, find Brooke, she’ll be your handler today. I have too much on my plate.” Only a partial lie but it still didn’t sit well with her. She wanted to spend every second possible with him. Geez, she had it bad.
He exhaled and nodded before he loosened his back and neck. “And what about after the show?”
